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WildEarth Guardians
@wildearthguardians.bsky.social
We protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Join us!
New Mexico is one of seven states that failed to reach an agreement on how to divide the struggling Colorado River Basin before a Tuesday deadline.

Read more about the complex and urgent need to solve New Mexico's water crisis ➡️ https://loom.ly/ZkRX-cI
New Mexico’s intertwined river systems strained by climate change
In recent years, as Northern New Mexico has seen historic shortages on the Rio Grande, water managers say the Colorado River has not softened the blow.
www.santafenewmexican.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:14 PM
In a panel about the state of public lands in The Land of Enchantment last week, conservation leaders infused a healthy dose of hope into their message for New Mexicans. Read more ⬇️

https://loom.ly/uqpVz9k
'We haven't lost': Conservationists urge state action amid federal rollback of public land protections
Panelists outlined the impact shifting federal public land policy and discussed corresponding ideas for the legislative session.
www.santafenewmexican.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:30 PM
🙌 "Wolves are essential to wild ecosystems."

This brilliant and insightful column from Norman Bishop reminds us why we're fighting to protect wolves from the violence that once annihilated them, and will again if we don't defend wolves. #WolvesBelong

https://loom.ly/x6SkHvU
Norman Bishop: Montana FWP is in the wolf management hot seat
On Oct. 18 we read that two suits had been filed: one to reduce Montana’s wolf population, and one to conserve it.
www.bozemandailychronicle.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The State of Montana's own population projections indicate that the state's gray wolf population will plummet if the regulations permitting 558 wolves to be slaughtered this winter stand. We went to court on Friday seeking to protect the wolf population from decimation. https://loom.ly/ovaR-dc
Judge hears arguments in challenge to Montana's wolf hunting, trapping seasons
Attorneys for Montana and a coalition of environmental groups sparred in court Friday over whether a judge should halt the state’s ongoing wolf hunting and trapping season.
www.bozemandailychronicle.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:21 PM
On Friday afternoon, we went to court to stop Montana's wolves from being exterminated by a record-high kill quota.

The state’s own population projections indicate that Montana’s wolf population will plummet if the Montana regulations stand. #WolvesBelong

More ➡️ https://loom.ly/Eab1Ylc
District Court hears arguments over wolf hunting regulations
Attorneys for state say wolves risk “severe population depletion as 62 wolves have been killed during the current hunting season.
dailymontanan.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Right now, we're in Montana State Court defending gray wolves from the state’s plan to allow a record number of them to be slaughtered this season. We refuse to stand by while the state of Montana wages war on wolves. Guardians is prepared to fight for wolves for as long as it takes. #WolvesBelong
November 14, 2025 at 9:08 PM
In a dramatic win for transparency, science, and democracy, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission voted 7–4 yesterday to vacate a vote that had advanced an oil-and-gas-funded petition to allow discharge of “treated” fracking waste into NM’s lands and waterways. https://loom.ly/useCfUs
New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission backpedals on fracking water case
The commission voted to undo a previous vote advancing an effort to allow some reuse and discharge of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing.
www.santafenewmexican.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:41 PM
🙌 The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal for a landmark lawsuit seeking to rectify the state’s failure to protect public health and the environment from the harms of oil and gas pollution, as required by the state constitution. #KeepItInTheGround https://loom.ly/gbZZ1uc

New Mexico Supreme Court agrees to hear pollution lawsuit • Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Supreme Court agreed to take up a lawsuit that contends the oil and gas industry violates the state constitution
sourcenm.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:24 PM
💔 Last week, we learned of the death of a female wolf in southwest Colorado. The death is under investigation. We're heartbroken over this loss and remain committed to protecting wolves in Colorado and across the West #WolvesBelong

https://loom.ly/M9yk0JA
Media statement: Confirmed mortality of wolf 2506 in southwest Colorado
DENVER – Colorado Parks and Wildlife received a mortality alert for female gray wolf 2506 on October 30, 2025. The agency has confirmed the mortality took place in Southwest Colorado.
cpw.state.co.us
November 12, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Our public lands are facing challenges like proposals to sell off millions of acres and to open up protected areas to logging, mining and drilling. Come to a town hall hear from a panel of experts about what’s really going on with our parks, monuments, and national forests ➡️ https://loom.ly/wBrWTzQ
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
We are seeing an organized all-out attack on the public lands that Americans treasure. Between the Public Lands Rule and the rescission of the Roadless Rule, Trump's agenda defies the overwhelming majority of Americans who support these common-sense conservation measures ➡️ https://loom.ly/9aaosOs

American public opinion backs Public Lands Rule
Even though a vast majority of the American public supports the federal Public Lands Rule, the Trump administration wants to rescind it.
missoulacurrent.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
As New Mexico cements its place as one of the nation’s top oil-producing states, the latest Waste Watch report reveals a 400% surge in toxic oil & gas waste spills in Q3, mostly on public lands. Explore the data & learn what this means for New Mexico’s water & communities ➡️ https://loom.ly/Y8C3Ic0
November 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Mexican wolves belong in the suitable habitat that exists in northern NM. In fact, lobo recovery depends on these endangered carnivores re-establishing themselves across their historic range. Enforcing arbitrary & unscientific policies is a waste of time & threatens recovery. https://loom.ly/NmE6-z4
Mexican wolf relocated after capture in New Mexico
Game and Fish said the wolf was returned to a wolf population in the Gila National Forest.
www.koat.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Oil and gas spills are up 400% in the third quarter of 2025 in New Mexico. The vast majority are spills of “produced water” which is toxic, chemical-laced, radioactive waste.

NM's produced-water ‘recycling’ experiment has turned public lands into toxic waste zones.

youtube.com/shorts/6Jtls...
Leak of the Week #48
YouTube video by WildEarthGuardians
youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Last week, we appealed a District Court ruling that upheld a flawed water pollution permit for the Rosebud coal mine’s AM5 expansion in Montana,. By reclassifying streams to avoid Clean Water Act protections, DEQ is setting a dangerous precedent. Read more ➡️
https://loom.ly/_9944KU
Environmental groups file appeal to overturn permit related to Rosebud coal mine expansion
The permit, issued by the Department of Environmental Quality in 2022, is alleged to not impose any pollution limits on the water in the area, drawing concern from the appellants.
www.msuexponent.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Late last week, the New Mexico Department of Fish and Game removed a wandering male Mexican gray wolf from the northern part of the state.

Wildlife should be wild and free. Enforcing arbitrary boundaries to keep wildlife where humans want them is a threat to recovery

https://loom.ly/QxTQTkg
New Mexico Fish and Game Stops Wandering Wolf “Taylor” in His Tracks, Sends Him South for the Second Time
Conservation groups are condemning the decision by the New Mexico Department of Fish and Game (NMDFG) to remove a wandering male Mexican gray wolf from the northern part of the state late last week.
wildearthguardians.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The plan to log a large swath of the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem Recovery Zone in Montana has been halted by a federal court, requiring additional NEPA review in order to adequately analyze the impacts of illegal roads on grizzly bear.

More ➡️ https://loom.ly/pwaZyFA
US officials shut down more than 10,000-acre operation after uncovering illegal use of state property: 'Requires additional ... review'
A federal judge stopped a logging project because it imperiled threatened grizzly bears in Montana.
www.thecooldown.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Water quality protections exist for a reason, and we intend to see them upheld. Our appeal seeks to ensure that Montana’s environmental laws are applied equally to all — without special loopholes for powerful corporations.

https://loom.ly/OjxFAi0
Conservation Groups File Appeal to Overturn Flawed Rosebud Coal Mine Water Pollution Permit
Groups claim DEQ is treating the surrounding region as a sacrifice zone
wildearthguardians.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:28 PM
A powerful reminder that a crisis of compassion and coexistence is playing out in the State of Montana, which set a record-high wolf hunting/trapping quota for the 2025-26 season, approving the taking of 458 wolves. We will never stop fighting for these magnificent beings.

https://loom.ly/c3uFA5s
Dispatches from the Wild: Montana’s record high wolf quota | Explore Big Sky
By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST Years ago, I hiked with two friends in a remote area of Glacier National Park during early November. Western larch trees blazed with the color of butterscotch, their needles gently carpeting the trails like a yellow brick road beneath luminous conifers. The sunlight slanted low, making the woods glow with an almost magical light.
www.explorebigsky.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Read the latest from our partner Western Watersheds Project on the brutal realities facing Mexican gray wolf recovery efforts that are constantly undermined by those who refuse to coexist and endangered by laws with loopholes large enough for a wolf to step right into ➡️ https://loom.ly/ci-qlds
Public records reveal a wolf maimed and the system that allowed it
Newly released documents show how power and loopholes in state laws still trump protection for endangered wolves.
westernwatersheds.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:02 AM
This is a stunning failure of governance and justice. By pushing new leasing in the Greater Chaco region, the Trump Administration is once again prioritizing fossil fuel profits over public health, climate stability, and the protection of our shared public lands ➡️ https://loom.ly/ctXwREY
Trump administration clearing the way for drilling around Chaco Canyon, N.M. Democrats say
Some lawmakers and Native activists condemned the rollback of Biden-era protections in the so-called buffer zone.
www.santafenewmexican.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Silverspot butterflies need stronger protections in order to survive the relentless assaults on their habitat. Our lawsuit aims to give Silverspots a true chance to recover and thrive. More ➡️ https://www.eenews.net/articles/lawsuit-seeks-enhanced-esa-protection-for-silverspot-butterflies/
Lawsuit seeks enhanced ESA protection for silverspot butterflies
Silverspots are listed as threatened, a designation that conservationists say falls short of what's needed to rescue the species.
www.eenews.net
November 4, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Join us next Thursday, November 13 at 7:00 pm for a town hall event hosted by Environment New Mexico and hear from a panel of experts about what’s really going on with our parks, monuments, forests, deserts and rivers.

We hope to see you there ➡️ https://loom.ly/wBrWTzQ
November 4, 2025 at 8:46 PM
🐟 For the third consecutive fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct deep drawdowns at Lookout Point and Green Peter dams. This will temporarily restore our rivers to a more natural flow, maintain flood control, and help save endangered salmon. Learn more ⬇️
November 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM